mukkanna

People have different tastes. There were also antis down-grading it. I think one of its major issues early on is that you have to have some actual ability to read people's emotions because for the first half, everyone is hiding something and what you're presented on its face may not actually be what the character is feeling. There are cues, but some people can't pick up on them... The downsides of having a FL who's pretending to be a vapid and outrageously flirty pirate and a ML who's pretending about lots of things.

Could have been a LOT worse :) I think it did pretty well, considering the constraints.

There was plenty of source novel material that would have made this a better story. It also seems that many scenes that were filmed were cut, and then others were spliced together where they didn't belong. Lines were also changed in post-production. It took a long time to get through China's review, so I wonder if they had to change things significantly to get through. There were also definitely some problems with the script even before filming though, with characters being written "out of character"; Gong Jun mentioned that he discussed one particular scene with the screenwriter because he felt Han Ye would never react so emotionally like that, and so they changed it during filming...

I think it would be fine as a 40 episode drama, but with less of these "extra" characters and more covering the main lead's storyline and more $$ allocated to filming some of the epic battles and romantic scenes that took place in the last half of the novel. And maybe restore the court drama/battle for the throne portion of the novel, at least partially. Those things were stripped to the bare bones due to the removal of the majority of the East Palace's faction/servants/information network as well as all Han Ye's brothers from the book.

They also did some major twisting of characters to manufacture a villain, since no true villains existed in the book...I don't think that was really necessary, but maybe audiences like to have someone who's completely unlikeable to hate on?

Because Youku just wants you to give them $$$...of course. If everyone is perfectly happy with the ending they got, then who'd pay for the specials?

I don't know where their money went, but they definitely cut some prestige and "heart" from both of the main leads. I think mostly to add some stuff for Luo Mingxi, Linlang, and Di Chengen. Anyone else think it's weird that Linlang's dance scenes are done so well, but we have the main leads standing against a 2000s-level CGI background?

And maybe for whitewashing. China's drama industry did this drama a poor turn, I think. But the great acting from both leads, the well-designed (I won't say well-written...I think we owe this to the interpretation of all the actors) relationships, and the lack of huge logic holes still makes this a winner for me :)

As always, I take ratings with a grain of salt. I'm well aware that my taste in dramas may not be the mainstream...some very popular dramas on here with ratings above 8.5 I just can't because of the huge logic holes and smart characters doing stupid things for no apparent reason...

Like a certain drama I thought had a great chance of being awesome, but then got so disappointed. Sure the CGI and fight scenes are great...but the supposedly "smart" characters are dumb, lead actor is handsome but needs to work on portraying emotions, inconsistent power levels in fight scenes led to serious logic holes, lazy writing to pull a "I sacrifice myself for love!!" scene out of thin air...but it's 8.7? Their relationship was also somewhat lazily developed. I can only think that viewers are just looking at the "pretty" and not watching the plot too closely...

This drama is the opposite, terrible CGI and production value, but the smart characters are actually smart, the leads both portray emotions well, their martial arts is consistently portrayed, and acts of sacrifice are done for multiple reasons, not just love...These are both characters that have responsibilities beyond their love for each other, and it's unusual to see that reflected in an idol drama.

Yes, I only remember two scenes where Linlang appeared in the novel, actually...

And DCE had a female maid. Incidentally, the one that got mashed up with Linlang to produce a servant/subordinate/love interest for Luo Mingxi.

Wuxia-speaking, I dunno.

Medically speaking, people can get more white hair when they're stressed because stress inhibits melanin production. It can get more black again after they stop being stressed. Nutritional deficiencies can also cause white hair, so it's also possible she didn't eat well.

Reference that's probably believable:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gray-hair-can-return-to-its-original-color-mdash-and-stress-is-involved-of-course/

I'm pretty sure he thought the Di family would take over after his father stepped down because the military power would be with the Di family army. In that case, Di Jinyan, the kid he'd personally raised with all the advantages of a prince, would have been emperor.

Novel Han Ye legit said, "My lifelong wish is for the peace and happiness of the people of Jing. Let her know that these 10,000 miles of rivers and mountains, I'll leave them to her."

While neither drama nor novel Han Ye knew she was in love with them, he thought that she would understand what he had done and spare his family in honor of his memory. He was right; novel DZY allowed his little brother to be Crown Prince while she took a regency, while drama DZY returned to being a courtier (albeit one with all the military power), only asking that her brother be restored to his identity as the Marquis of Jing'an's heir.

Han Ye deliberately sent DZY away because he knew his father's Plum Blossom Guards were coming to kill her. As explained in the drama, they're rare expert martial artists (and looks like they basically flew up the mountain, so yeah). Han Ye's plan was:
1. Get DZY away so the Plum Blossom Guards can't kill her
2. Use the Plum Blossom Guards to help him fight the North Qin army and get revenge for Anning. As he explained to them, he was massively outnumbered and was prepared to die fighting, and they could hardly go to Junxian City to kill DZY and leave him to die.
3. Die, so his father will no longer have any reason to try to kill DZY or the Di family army in the future. As LMX pointed out to him, he's the cause of the emperor trying to have her assassinated. As long as DZY holds military power and prestige, the emperor will try to kill her (and probably destroy the Di family army again) to secure Han Ye's throne. But if Han Ye is dead, then he has no heir, and furthermore the Di family army is "much stronger" than the remaining imperial army. After his death, DZY would be safe because the emperor would be dependent on the Di family army to guard Jing. In this way, he can also repay the blood debt the Han family owes the Di family. He never intended to survive, which is why DZY later says "you didn't leave yourself a way to go down the mountain."

When Han Ye was shot, even Jili thought it was a fatal wound. Mo Bei said he'd capture him alive and trade him for land (in the novel, that commander said they'd hang his corpse from the city walls, but I guess that was too gruesome for the drama). Mo Bei was prepared to kill Wen Shuo and Jili to capture him. After he jumped off the cliff, Mo Bei retreated without killing Wen Shuo or Jili, because:
1. DZY's army arrived, and they had less than 100 men left
2. Even if he wasted time and more men killing Wen Shuo or Jili, what was the benefit to him in doing that? The Jing emperor wouldn't trade squat for either one of them. Notably, even though Han Ye had already told Wen Shuo he was Jinyan, he calls him Wen Shuo when asking him to escape. Di Jinyan would have been a good hostage for Di Ziyuan, but Wen Shuo might not have been worth capturing (at this point, Mo Bei should be aware that Han Ye and Di Ziyuan had fallen out with each other, and Wen Shuo is Han Ye's subordinate). Jili, Han Ye's bodyguard, is also shown to have high martial arts.

Han Ye had also told Wen Shuo that the North Qin army was now broken and was no longer a threat, and their objectives had been met. Since he'd accomplished his other goals at this point all he needed to do to complete his plan was to die, removing the cause for the Han and Di factions to continue fighting. Before he jumped, what he said was translated to say he'd rather die than surrender, but I think would be closer to: "I, Han Ye, die, undefeated; perish, but not lose!"

I can't speak to his landing. I mean, Jian Song fell off a similarly high mountain and was saved by Di Shengtian. That being said, we do have real life examples of people who somehow managed to survive landing without a parachute, etc... Life's strange. People can fall out of an airplane and survive, but others can fall from standing height and die.

Ah. That's unfortunately Han Ye's crown prince character setting: a person who loves his people and justice. You already see foreshadowing of this when they go to see the flood victims, and he says, "It's my fault." Even Anle, who's there for revenge, is like "??? It has nothing to do with you though?"

His feeling is that, because of his position as crown prince, his "job" is to secure the peace, health, and prosperity of his people, and to ensure justice for his subjects. And he in fact has this reputation amongst the people, so we know he's been like that a long time. This is why Zhong Hai has no qualms accusing Marquis Zhongyi in front of him, while he wouldn't tell Luo Mingxi anything: he knows that the Crown Prince of Jing would uphold justice no matter what.

This is also why Han Ye told Di Ziyuan that he hoped her vengeance could come to him and stop there. As crown prince, his belief was that he should render justice for the Di family, his subjects; and as the Han family's prince, he also believed that he could be the one to pay the price. He's consistent with this the entire drama; after their grandmother's death, he told Anning that any burdens she had, he could bear them for her. And when the time came, he was prepared to pay for the crimes of his family with the life of their prince, the future of their dynasty. This is why Di Ziyuan said "I'm going to ask him...so many people from my Di family died in vain. Does he think his life is enough to make amends?" before she tried to jump off the mountain.

In the last few episodes I believe his plan was to disappear again from the court to avoid shaking the balance of power while the country was still recovering from the war. He didn't want the Han and Di factions to start fighting, and he wasn't confident of his ability to control the Han faction since his father is still around (albeit less paranoid). At that point in time he probably believed Di Ziyuan wanted him to return out of guilt and pity, and not that she loved him and wanted to be with him.

At least, that's my take on it :)

The last one, haha...but yes, happy ending for the leads

I agree, I think it would have been more satisfying and happy to wrap up LMX's stuff and then do some wedding and epilogue things.

But, I also think one of the themes of this drama is that actions and events have consequences, and emotional wounds never completely heal. They leave marks and still affect people years later.

In the drama, the field of flowers didn't bloom until 7 years later.

Yes, the changsi flower in the drama was what helped Han Ye's eyes recover. My take on the changsi flower was that Linlang grew it because she knew LMX liked it because DZY liked it. It doesn't seem like it was ever for a medicinal purpose, because it was always intended to be given to DZY to enjoy.

Furthermore, the changsi flower in the novel was a cure developed by the disciple of the medical sage who had saved Han Ye. In the novel, during the 3 years Han Ye was recovering with Mo Shuang and the sage, Mo Shuang had obtained the seeds of changsi for him and he grew it in a pot in North Qin. They flowered after he left to say goodbye to the emperor. However, the disciple who had been living there was intrigued by this and left to journey to Jingnan to study the flower further since Han Ye had told him Di Ziyuan's house had an entire field of them. When Di Ziyuan and Luo Mingxi traveled the world they couldn't find this disciple (the master had died curing Han Ye's eyes)...but when she took Luo Mingxi to Jingnan to die, there that guy was, literally in the backyard, studying cures for "cold" illnesses with the Changsi flower. What a fortuitous coincidence... But since the sage was removed from the drama and Di Shengtian partially took over that role, I believe there was no chance of a cure since Di Shengtian saw Luo Mingxi several times and no mention was ever made of a treatment.

Same! What decisions do you think are fuzzy? You know how much I like dissecting things :D

Did you come back here because of FOMO then?

I have to disagree with you here. I'm a novel reader, but I'm still satisfied with this drama. Would it have been better with more faith to the novel? I think so. Was there some whitewashing of characters, probably for censorship purposes? Yes. Was there some pretty obvious insertion of what essentially amounts to advertisements for new actresses? Yes. Was the CGI disappointing? Yes.

But is it a bad drama? No, it's actually still my favorite drama so far this year. Was it a waste of my time? Not at all, I'm actually going to rewatch it later. The acting, the characters, and the mature themes outweigh all the bad points for me. This isn't a shallow love story. This is at its heart a drama about different types of love: love for the country, love for the people, family love, and romantic love, and what happens when those things come into conflict with each other. I like to feel emotions and use my brain when I watch dramas, and this one accomplishes that in spades.

Leads are still smart (smarter than most C-drama characters, actually...none of them ever actually did anything that can't be justified by their character settings and emotional state), the core of the characters are still there, and many of the main events are preserved.

I have some criticisms and some "wish they kept this from the novel" items, but I'm still giving this drama a 10.

Maybe you think my opinion doesn't count as much as yours, but there it is.

I already see the clips on twitter, with subtitles. It's probably just a matter of time before someone posts links here.

In the novel, HY came back for his father's death and funeral. The emperor died in Han Ye's arms a few minutes after Han Ye returned. After the funeral was when Han Ye intended to leave...so the drama had already gone in a different direction by leaving the emperor alive for so long after Han Ye's return.

There's not really any book material to speak of. After they decide to get married, LMX gets sick, and Di Ziyuan leaves with LMX to travel the world and search for a cure. The last chapter of the book is her returning to the palace during the Spring Hunt and repeating the scene of shooting down the birds and riding up to Han Ye. The end. Their wedding is never covered in the book.

They don't have any kids in the book, just "extras" where Han Ye and Di Ziyuan dote on Di Anle (Jinyan and Yuan Qin's daughter) and Han Ye makes remarks that Di Ziyuan should see Anle more so she can "have more awareness," and that he's already had experience in raising children.

Since you bring up the Changsi Flower, I really have to say this, though! In the novel, the field of the Flower of Longing (the translation is "Long thoughts" like "thinking of you for a long time") was planted by Han Ye in the East Palace when they were kids, and had finally bloomed after he "died." Di Ziyuan went to the East Palace on Han Ye's birthday and found out he'd demolished part of the East Palace when he was 12 and built her a whole pavilion overlooking this "sea of flowers", intending for it to be her home when he got her out of Mount Dai and married her...it's a pity she never got to live there. So sad they omitted this from the drama and also hijacked their symbol of love for LMX.

Book excerpt (note this occurs during the period where Han Ye is "dead"):

Di Ziyuan walked into the pavilion, and the gate of North Que Pavilion slowly closed behind her. She took a few steps and stood in front of the window railing to look out.
Ten miles of changsi, blooming behind the entire North Que Pavilion.
The places where the two palaces were demolished by the crown prince that year, have all become the place where changsi was planted.
A sea of ​​azure flowers that can't be seen at a glance.
The sea of flowers ends in the south, in the direction of the Di North City.
North Que Pavilion was actually like this.
She hadn’t known; the marriage contract she had discarded like a piece of paper that year, Han Ye had worked hard for it for half his life.
When you marry me someday, anything you think about in this world, I will dedicate my life to do it for you.
Sixteen years later, Di Ziyuan stood inside the North Que pavilion that Han Ye had built for her and finally heard the words that the young man had wanted to say to her back then.
Han Ye, over the years, how much have you done for me?
I, Di Ziyuan, do not fear heaven, do not fear earth, do not venerate ghosts and gods. But for the rest of my life, I'm afraid to hear someone in this world mention your name to me again.
From the day you jumped down Yunjing Mountain, I could no longer afford to repay your lifetime of deep affection.
Di Ziyuan blinked, and a tear streaked from the corner of her eye and fell to the ground, curling up the dust.
Over ten years later, she suddenly startled and looked back, gazing at the sky filled with blue flowers. In the ten miles of changsi, Han Ye was slowly walking towards her.
Just like in the southern city of Jinan that year, in the warm winter sun, an elegant young man in white stood before her, his arms full of blooming changsi flowers, and raised his eyebrows. His smile was warm and clear.
Such a scene, like a dream, is difficult to return to.